Antonio Maria Valsalva
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Antonio Maria Valsalva (17 January 1666 – 2 February 1723), was an Italian
anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...
born in
Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical ...
. His research focused on the anatomy of the
ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...
s. He coined the term Eustachian tube and he described the aortic sinuses of Valsalva in his writings, published posthumously in 1740. His name is associated with the Valsalva antrum of the
ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...
and the
Valsalva maneuver The Valsalva maneuver is performed by a forceful attempt of exhalation against a closed airway, usually done by closing one's mouth and pinching one's nose shut while expelling air out as if blowing up a balloon. Variations of the maneuver can ...
, which is used as a test of circulatory function. Anatomical structures bearing his name are ''Valsalva’s muscle'' and ''taeniae Valsalvae''. He observed that when weakness of one side of the body is caused by a lesion in the brain, the culprit lesion tends to be on the side opposite (contralateral) to the weak side; this finding is named the "Valsalva doctrine" in his honor.


Background

Valsalva was born at
Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical ...
. The contemporary of
Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
and
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
, he was educated in the
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
, mathematics, and natural sciences. After studies of the
liberal art Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...
s, he studied
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
and philosophy in
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
. He was taught by
Marcello Malpighi Marcello Malpighi (10 March 1628 – 30 November 1694) was an Italian biologist and physician, who is referred to as the "Founder of microscopical anatomy, histology & Father of physiology and embryology". Malpighi's name is borne by several ph ...
, who is known as the founder of microscopic anatomy. Valsalva graduated from medical school in 1687. In 1695, he was named surgeon for the Hospital of the Incurables in Bologna. In 1705, he was appointed professor of anatomy at the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continu ...
. He was later chosen as president of the '' Istituto Clementino delle Scienze ed Arti'' (Clementine Institute of Arts and Sciences). Valsalva taught
Giovanni Battista Morgagni Giovanni Battista Morgagni (25 February 1682 – 6 December 1771) was an Italian anatomist, generally regarded as the father of modern anatomical pathology, who taught thousands of medical students from many countries during his 56 years as Pro ...
who edited Valsalva’s complete writings and published a biography on Valsalva, both in 1740. In 1709, Valsalva married Elena Lisi. As he lost his health, he lost his sense of smell, but he recognized the prodromal symptoms, in the form of
dyslalia Dyslalia means difficulties in talking due to structural defects in speech organs, such as sigmatism (defective pronunciation of sibilant sounds, for example "S" pronounced as "TH") and rhotacism, in which the letter "R" pronounced as "I or Y". It ...
, of the disease that would eventually cause his death from stroke at
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
in 1723. Valsalva was buried in the church of San Giovanni in Monte, Bologna. The Valsalva family donated a collection of dried anatomical specimens to be used for educational purposes to the Institute of Sciences founded in 1711. The wear of this material that followed possibly inspired the work of the Bolognese school of wax modeling and the artists
Ercole Lelli Ercole Lelli (14 September 1702 – 7 March 1766) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque, active mainly in Northern Italy, including his native city of Bologna, as well as Padua and Piacenza. Lelli was a pupil of the painter Giovanni Pietro ...
and Giovanni and Anna Morandi Manzolini. This new anatomic collection includes models of the heart and lungs and is today presented at the Museum of Anatomy. Valsalva was described as a skillful surgeon and excellent
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
, a meticulous anatomist with high scientific integrity, and a man of great kindness. Morgagni wrote ''". . . there is nobody of those times who goes ahead of him, very few who are his equals."''


Research

Valsalva both studied and taught in the fields of science, surgery, anatomy,
physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
, and
psychiatry Psychiatry is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psych ...
. At a young age, Valsalva had successfully removed a dog’s kidney. He opposed
cauterization Cauterization (or cauterisation, or cautery) is a medical practice or technique of burning a part of a body to remove or close off a part of it. It destroys some tissue in an attempt to mitigate bleeding and damage, remove an undesired growth, o ...
in the treatment of wounds, and recommended humanitarian treatment of mentally ill patients. His main interest was the middle and internal ear, including the muscles of the external ear and the pharyngeal muscles. Valsalva named the Eustachian tube and described its function and that of its muscle. He showed the connection between the
mastoid The mastoid part of the temporal bone is the posterior (back) part of the temporal bone, one of the bones of the skull. Its rough surface gives attachment to various muscles (via tendons) and it has openings for blood vessels. From its borders, ...
cells and the
tympanic cavity The tympanic cavity is a small cavity surrounding the bones of the middle ear. Within it sit the ossicles, three small bones that transmit vibrations used in the detection of sound. Structure On its lateral surface, it abuts the external auditory ...
, and made observations on physiologic and pathologic processes of the ear. ''De aure humana tractatus'' published in 1704 contains a description of the
Valsalva maneuver The Valsalva maneuver is performed by a forceful attempt of exhalation against a closed airway, usually done by closing one's mouth and pinching one's nose shut while expelling air out as if blowing up a balloon. Variations of the maneuver can ...
and patency test of the auditory tubes. A skilled anatomist, Valsalva conducted many autopsies on deceased patients. During the 17th century, lacking chemical tests and knowledge of disease transmission mechanisms, he sometimes tasted the fluids he encountered in cadavers in an effort to better characterize them. "Gangrenous pus does not taste good", he wrote, "leaving the tongue tingling unpleasantly for the better part of the day."


Published works


De aure humana tractatus (Treatise on the Human Ear
in quo integra auris fabrica, multis novis inventis & iconismis illustrata, describitur omniumque ejus partium usus indagantur: quibus interposita est musculorum uvulae, atque pharyngis nova descriptio et delineatio; by Antonio Maria Valsalva, Ludugni Batavorum, Gisbertum Langerak and Johannem Hasebroek (1735). (Translated into Italia

by Vincenzo Mangano)


Valsalva device in spacesuits

The Valsalva device is a device used in spacesuits to allow astronauts to equalize the pressure in their ears by performing the
Valsalva maneuver The Valsalva maneuver is performed by a forceful attempt of exhalation against a closed airway, usually done by closing one's mouth and pinching one's nose shut while expelling air out as if blowing up a balloon. Variations of the maneuver can ...
inside the suit without using their hands to block their nose. It has also been used for other purposes, such as to remove moisture from the face.


References


External links


BiographicalA short biography on the life of the dedicated anatomist -Valsalva
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valsalva, Antonio Maria 1666 births 1723 deaths 17th-century Italian physicians 18th-century Italian physicians Italian anatomists People from Imola